It’s a big food and wine time of year which can make choosing a wine to go with all that food difficult. This is when we look to a wine that was made for the dinner table – Chianti. The wine-gem of central Italy “complements rather than clobbers food” in the words of wine guru Jancis Robinson, able to refresh the palate and add subtle spice, fruit and earthy notes. This week’s wine, Leonardo Chianti DOCG, hits all those high notes while delivering great value.
Tasting Notes: Leonardo Chianti Fiasco is classically styled, using Italy’s Sangiovese grape to create a lightly coloured, juicy wine. A pungent nose of red berries, clove and violet is followed by flavours of tart cherry, strawberry, earth and spice.
Enjoy With: Pastas, roast chicken or turkey (especially with cranberry sauce), charcuterie, and roasted or grilled red meats. It’s infinitely pairable.
Style: A dry, medium-bodied, red wine showing a lively blend of fruit and spice.
Terroir/Region: The Chianti name is used to describe a specific region of Italy as well as the wines from the region which use the Sangiovese grape. This bottling of Leonardo uses the classic ‘Fiasco’ bottle, a traditional style with a rounded bottom, making it much easier for glass blowers to make. The rounded bottom of the bottle is made table-ready by adding a basket of straw to stabilize it, keeping the wine in the bottle until you pour it into your glass.
Producer: The Leonardo Da Vinci winery was opened by 30 small producers in the early 1960s in order to share in the costs of building a winery. Since that time, it has expanded to other regions of Tuscany while continuing to focus on the Sangiovese grape. The growers contributing to Leonardo da Vinci (now over 200) share their knowledge and assist one another to achieve best practices and unlock the potential of their vineyards.
Availability: Leonardo Chianti Fiasco is available in the Italy section of your local LCBO and is $2.00 off until December 1, so stock up now. If you really want to stock up, a 5L bottle is available, but it will be gone after the holidays!
Check LCBO store inventory
Price: $13.95 (750mL); $109.95 (5000mL)
LCBO#: #372391 (750mL); #661116 (5000mL)
Size: 750mL and 5000mL
Alcohol Content: 13.0% alc./vol.
